The New States of Asia: A Political Analysis by Michael BrecherReview by: Richard J. CoughlinThe Canadian Journal of Economics and Political Science / Revue canadienne d'Economique etde Science politique, Vol. 30, No. 4 (Nov., 1964), pp. 603-604Published by: Wiley on behalf of Canadian Economics AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/139524 .

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REVIEWS OF BOOKS

The New States of Asia: A Political Analysis. By MICHAEL BREcHm. London, New York, Toronto: Oxford University Press. 1963. Pp. xiv, 226. $6.75.

THE colonial experiences and contemporary political problems of the newly independent nations of South and Southeast Asia are here described and

analysed in five essays. A sixth essay concerns Israel's relations with the states of Africa and Asia, and in an appendix the author, Professor of Political Science at McGill University, presents an edited version of his tape-recorded interview with Nehru some eight years ago.

The term "new states of Asia" has a certain appeal as a rubric for grouping together former colonial lands, but it is very difficult to identify significant similarities among these variegated states which would justify their being considered as a unit. Indeed virtually the only common factor to be found in

such nations as Pakistan, India, Ceylon, Burma, Malaya, Cambodia, Laos, South Vietnam, North Vietnam, the Philippines, and Indonesia is their former colonial status, and even colonialism had different meanings for each people. Because these nations are diverse, remarkably few really penetrating generaliza- tions can be made about any one that are valid for the rest, a fact which is a major handicap for anyone attempting a political analysis. The first two essays in this volume, on colonialism and its aftermath of political instability, make

such an effort but the result is more descriptive than analytical. Much the same can be said about the sixth far-ranging essay entitled, "The New States in World Politics," which seems to suffer from an additional handicap in that

India, the largest and most influential of the "new states," dominates the dis-

cussion while the smaller nations are slighted or ignored. When peoples are

so diverse, it is almost impossible to cover all and do justice to each one.

The remaining essays are much more specific in their interests and far more

successful as analyses. These include "A New Subordinate State System," an

essay entitled 'Neutralism: an Analysis," and the discussion of Israel's role in

African and Asian affairs. In these the author is either developing new political theory or applying theory in the analysis of a homogeneous set of circum-

stances, and the results are some very intellectually respectable essays. It is Chapter 3 entitled "A New Subordinate State System" that may hold

the greatest interest and challenge for specialists. Here is an effort to add to

the limited store of International Relations theory, and to broaden the tradition-

ally narrow vision of Southern Asia area specialists, by suggesting that the

useful unit for foreign policy analysis is a regional grouping of states which

have a typically subordinate position vis-a-vis the United States and the Soviet

Union. Brecher briefly identifies five such "subordinate systems" in the modern

world (Middle Eastern, American, Southern Asian, West European, and West

African) and then proceeds to describe in "structural" and "textural" terms the

Southern Asia System which he sees as composed of India, China, and all the

new states lying between these giants.

603

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604 Canadian Journal of Economics and Political Science

In the reviewer's opinion tlhe provocative aspects of this particular chapter lie not so much in the analysis but in the classificationi scheme itself, which encompasses the concept of "groups of nations" and, beyond this, the author's attempts to set forth as precisely as possible the characteristics of any subordinate state system. The analysis of Southern Asia as a "subordinate system" is admittedly preliminary. Area specialists will please note that the author has left to them the responsibility for any further forward movement along the long, long road to theory building in International Relations.

No reader will want to overlook the appendix in which the interview with Nehru is transcribed. Here Nehru spoke informally of many things: his opinion of Gandhi ("he always managed to induce a person to behave in a particular way by expecting him to do so . . . a very hard task-master but at the same time one could see his friendship and affection"), about the partition of India ("Partition could have been stopped if the British Government's policy had been different . . ."), on non-violence, on China following his visit there in 1954 ("My major impression was one of the enormous basic strength of the Chinese people"), on population control, and many other topics. Thle specialists may turn first to the essays but for the general reader this appendix likely will be the most readable and informative part of the book. It may serve another useful function by attracting readers to the author's previously published study (1959) of this great Asian entitled Nehru: A Political Biography.

RICHARD J. COIJGHLIN

University of Virginia

The Economics of Banking Operations: A Canadian Study. By J. A. GALBRAITHl.

Montreal: McGill University Press. 1963. Pp. xviii, 510. $7.75.

AT the outset, Mr. Galbraith states that his book "is concerned with funda-

mentals in the economics of banking, over which there is still much debate and

controversy. The analysis attempts to show the impact on the banking system

and on the stability of the economy of various banking operations and

transactions, classified for this purpose into domestic, interregional, inter-

national, government, and central bank operations. The treatment is theoretical

or abstract, the subtitle, 'A Canadian Study,' being indicative not so much of the

precise scope of the study as of the background against which it was carried out."

The author has certainly succeeded in his attempt. The patient reader will find

great value in this orderly and comprehensive exposition of thinking which is

expert, clear, and often novel. First the consequences of domestic banking operations are considered in

relation to the behaviour of modern banks as borrowers, lenders, and investors.

The similarity between the individual bank and the non-bank supplier of

funds to the community is accepted in that new bank deposits represent

passive borrowing. But it is argued that the similarity does riot hold for the

banking system, which cannot acquire additional cash balances through

accepting deposits, unless the monetary authorities approve. Unlike the inon-

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